Automobile torpedo



H. W. SHONNARD.

AUTOMOBILE TORPEDO.

APPLICATION FILED IAN. 2o, |920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET1.

Patented. Nov. 23, i920..

QQ m INVENTOR WITNESSES H. W. SHONNARD.

AUTOMOBILE ToRPEDo.

APPLICATION FILED IAN. 20, 1920.

1,366,036, Patented Nov. 23,1920.,

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

H. W. SHONNARD.

AUTOMOBILE ToRPEno.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 20, |920.

1,36@,036. Patllted NOV. 23,1920.. asHEETs-sHEET a.

, r/'ffr Q N# w l `7 t S, E a! Q0 Vg Ll. si w D 5. lr E 7 .i .Ju i 3 (9D l l N l n Q j G) Lfi Si z (0 L!- (u EQ a l U l l V i WITNESSES y,INVENTOR @www Vl'irlRCllfD `SHONNAISLD, OE UPPER MONTCLAIR, NEW' 'rorties,

JERSEY, ASSIGN OIE ONE'- HALF TO CLARENCE M. SHONNARD, OE RIDGEWOOD, NEWJERSEY.

AUTOVIOBILE TORPEDO.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, HAROLD W. SHONNARD, residing at Upper Montclair, inthe county of Essex and State of N ew Jersey, a citizen of .the UnitedStates, have invented or discovered certain new and usefulV Improvementsvin Automobile Torpedoes, of which iinprovements the following is aspecification.

The invention has for its primary object the provision of means wherebythe speed and effective range of automobile torpedoes may be greatlyincreased. @ther improvements will hereinafter appear.

Numerous difficulties are encountered iii materially increasing thespeed of torpedoes above that developed by those in present use owing tothe limited permissible size and weight of the torpedo. For example,-toincrease the speed of a torpedo having the present standard maximumdimensions from one of thirty to one of forty'knots per hour, wouldnecessitate practically doubling the Vpropellingpower. If a larger shellshould be used in order to accommodate a power unit having an increasedcapacity, no material advantage would be obtained, by reason ofthefactthat increase of resistance due to the enlarged cross-sectional area.and' wetted surface would nearly offset the increase in propellingpower. g

A furtherdiiii'culty developed when a torpedo is driven through thewater at high speed is that cavitation becomes a serious factor, thezone atthe stern in which there is no body of water frequently expandinguntil only the cxtieinetips of the blades remain in water upon whichthey may exert apropulsive action. This condition not' only reduces thepropelling eiciency of the power unit, but also has a tendency to causethe torpedo` to rolland thus disturb the steering mechanism and alterthe course of the torpedo.V When a torpedo is steering a curvedcoursethe effects of cavitationin theV vicinity of the'propellers areaccentuated, due to the fact that the vzone of cavitation follows thecurve and thuspeXposes the blades on one side ofthe axis of the torpedoto a cavity and Vthose on the oppositefside to al vbody ofWater.

The effects of cavitation are minimized vin the preferred embodimentofthe present inf vention by the steadying influence Vof a pair ofpropellers located at the bow of the torpedo and rotatingi inoppositedirections Specification of Lettersatent.

Application filed January 20, 1920. Serial No.

is required .the stern propellers, with which they may be i positivelyconnected, if desired, by.V means of suitable shafting and gears.Propulsion losses, due to the slip of the stern propellers when they areoperating ina cavity, are compensated :by the increased propulsiveraction of the bow propellers, for the reason that when the sternpropellers are unloaded ythe turbine speed will increase until the bowpropellers assume the load removed from the stern .propellers It will-beapparent there-V forev that a substantially uniform velocity will bemaintained under conditions encountered at high speed, and because ofthe steady movement, the .torpedo will follow its intended course withgreaterprecision than has been heretofore.- attained. The inven-kPatented Nov. 23, 19120. v

Features ofthe invention contributing to this end are: a compact turbinemotor having two separate single-stage rotors disposedone on each'sideof` Va central driving-shaft, so that they are statically balanced .andno ballast Va compact reduction. gearing connecting the rotors with thedriving-shaft or shafts and disposed between .the spaced rotors, so that.the gearing is also staticallybalanced; shielding of the gearing fromthe turbine rotors, so that the heated operating gases cannot come .incontact with the gearing; the. provision of oppositely rotating coaxialpropell'ei's at vthe bow of the torpedo, supplementing those usuallyemployed at the stern, whereby greater power may-be translated intopropulsiva actionythe provision vof means for cooling theexhaust vgasesbefore they are passed through .the

ln the accompanying drawings,-V Figure lis a longitudinal horizontalsection through 'i the vforward portion, and` Fig. 2v a like .sec-

rra

tion through the rear portion, of a torpedo embodying the invention inits preferred form. Figs. 3, 4 and respectively illustratemodifications.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2, the torpedo body as a whole is dividedlongitudinally into four sections, the war-head 6, the motiveefluidflask 3, the after-body 10 and `the tail-section 17, by suitablebulkheads 7,

4, 5, 11, 12 and 18. The rear bulkhead 7 of the war-head is providedwith a hollow cylindrical extension 9 'opening at its front into thehollow shaft tube 8, which projects forwardly through the war-head. Theextension 9 forms 'a casing for gearing carried by the bulkhead 4 of themotive-fluid fiask, which will be hereinafter described. The war-headcontains the explosive charge 6', which is detonated by a suitable fuse,not shown.

At the forward end of the after-body 10 there is arranged concentricallywithin the torpedoshell a cylindrical wall 15 suitably secured to thebulkhead 11 and opening rearwardly; and closing the space between thecylindrical wall 15 and the shell is an annular transverse wall 15, thusforming at the forward end of the after-body 10 an annular compartment14 in which are mounted the rotors of the turbine motor to Abe presentlydescribed, so that the hot exhaust gases from the rotors are excludedfrom contact with the reduction gearing, which is mountedvin andcontiguous to the inclosed compartment 13 between the rotors. The forebulkhead 11 of the after-body is so disposed with relation to the rearbullhead-5 of the motive-fluid flask 3, that a space 16 is left betweenthem. At the rear of the after-body 10 there is also a space 19 betweenthe rear bulkhead 12 of the afterbody and the fore bulkhead 18 of thestern section 17. n

The motor of theV torpedo comprises a pair of vhigh-prmfer single-stageimpulse turbine rotors 20 and 21, disposed inthe annular compartment 14of the after-body V10 on opposite sides of the longitudinal axis of thetorpedo, and adapted to rotate about a transverse axis. The rotors 2Oand 21 are mounted upon separate shafts 22 andV 23, respectively,'whichare journaled in bearings' 24 carried by a suitable frame25.l The frame25 is supported within the cylindrical partition 15 inany suitable way.

The frame also supports a` longitudinally disposed bearing 26concentrically with the longitudinal axis of the torpedo, in which `isjournaled a central stub-shaft 27 havingr a watertight bearing at itsforward end in the bulkhead 11. The journal openings of the bearings 24communicate with of the bearings 26, andY conbe readily lu- Coaxiallythe openings sequently these gearings may bricated from a single source.

with the stub-shaft 27 a central shaft 28 extends aft, being journaledat its forward end in a fixed transverse stud 29 havingoppositelyv'extended transverse shaft-arms 30 and 31 secured at theirvouter ends to the frame The forward end of the shaft 28 is alsosupported in a bearing 32 in a plate which is bolted to extensions 34 oftherframe The rear end of the shaft 28 is journaled in a bearing carriedby the rear bulkhead 12 of the after-body 10, and is provided with apacking gland 36 to prevent exhaust gases from entering the afterbody1() from the rear chamber 19, into which they iow as hereinafterdescribed. The shaft .,8 projects beyond the bulkhead 12, and isprovided with a hollow shaft-couv pling 37 having openings 38 throughwhich the exhaust gases in the space or chamber 19 mayV pass to theinner hollow propeller shaft 39, which is attached to the coupling 37,and which therefore forms an extension of the shaft 28 through the sternsection 17. The adjacent ends of the shafts 28 and 39 are provided withkeys 4() adapted to engage slots in the coupling 37 insueh manner thatthe shafts may be coupled byra longitudinal movement when the sternsection 17 andthe after-body 10 are moved into assembled relation.

As has already been stated, the reduction gearing connecting the turbinerotors with the shafting which drives the propellers is arranged betweenthe rotors and within the central cylindrical compartment 13. Thisgearing comprises pinions 71 and 72 secured to the rotor-shafts 22 and23, respectively, at points between their respective rotorsand thecentral stub-shaft 27. The pinions 71 and 72 mesh with reduction gears73 and 74, respectively, Vwhich are respectively mounted upon the studshafts 30 and 31. The gears 73 and 74 are centrally provided with smallbevel gears 7 5 and 7 6, which mesh, respectively, with bevel gears 77and 78, keyed respectively to the shaft 28 and the stubshaft 27 From theforegoing it will be apparent that the rotors 20 and 21 are positivelyconnected by the gear chain just described, and must therefore rotate atequal velocities. The shaft 39 in the stern sectien, which, asalreadystated,is coupled to the rearend of the shaft 28, is journaled atits forward end in abearing .41 in the bulk-v head 18 and in astationary stud 42 having oppositely extending shaft-arms 48 supportedby the wall of the section 17 The rear end ofthe hollow shaft 39 isjournaled in a hollow outer concentric shaft 43, which is inturnjournaled in a stern*` bearing 44 at the rearend of section 17. Theshafts 39 and 43 are the propeller shafts. The

outer shaft 43 extends beyond the stern section 17, and the propeller 45is keyed upon its projecting end. The inner sha 39 proects beyondthe-end of the shaft 43, land the I'ment with the propeller 46 is keyedupon its projecting end and held against displacement by a' suitable nut47, having an orifice 48 in alinepedo, so that said gearing is alsostatically,7

balanced. By this arrangement "I am enabled 4to obtain .greatlyincreased driving power per unit of motivefluid, with but little, ifany, increase in the weight of the torpedo, since 'no ballast'jisnecessary. A further distinguishingfeature is that of providing for the`gearing aj compartment completely shielded from the rotors, andcentrally arranged thereof as aboveV described; so that the 'heatedexhaust gases are effectively excludedffrom contactwith the gearing. y

ln the construction shown and described the gaseous motive fluid, whichhas preferably Vbeen superheated, is discharged from the flask 3 throughthe port SO in the bulkhe-ad 5` which may be connected with the turbinenozzles T9 by any preferred form of connection, not shown- The gasesdischarged from thek nozzles pass through the blading of the turbine,and after giving up their energy to the rotors, are exhausted into theannular chamber :14, whence lthey are conducted through thel oppositeexhaust conduits 80 Vinto the chamber 19, between the after-body 19 andthe Astern section 17. the outlets of the conduits 80 being` closed byvalves 8l which will open rearwardlyto permit of the escape of thegases. From chamber i9 the exhaust gases pass through the openings 38into the hollow coupling 37, and thence through the hollow innerpropeller shaft 39 and the sternV opening 48 to the sea. Y'

i prefer to cool these highly heated exhaust gases during theirpassagethrough the conduits 80', and to'that end the conduits 80 areprovided with water-jackets 82 extending substantially their entirelength,

' each water-jacket 82 'being provided at its Vforvmrd end with inletpassage 8,3 having a flat intake hood'84 opening forwardly,

ifcr the purpose of scooping 'in water as 'the torpedo Vruns throughVthe fit their rear ends the water is discharged from the'waterjackets'through passages 85, eac-h provided with an outlet hood 8G openingrearwardly passage through the hollow so that the movement of thetorpedo through the sea will tend to reduce the pressure benea'th'l thehoods and vthereby accelerate the circulation of water through thejackets.

This cooling of the'hot exhaust gases before they enter the propellershaft -39 prevents the latter being heated to such adegree as to heatthe bearings and gears within the stern section 17so that properlubrication will be difficult. The cooling of the exhaust gasesl hasalso the advantage that the visibility of the wake of the torpedo isthereby reduced.

In the preferred embodiment ofthe invention, where a pair of bowpropellers are used in addition to the stern propellers, a hollow shaft5l extends forwardly through the motive-fuel liask 3, beingjoined at itsrearV endv to the forward -end of the stubshaft 27, by means of acoupling-52 of such character that the shafts 27 and 5l will `beoperatively connected by the longitudinal movement of the ask 8 and theafter-body l into assembled relation.V The rear end of the shaft l isjournaled in a bearing bushing 53 supported within an outer tube 54connected at its' rear to the bulkhead 5V by a gas-tight connection 55.The projecting rear end of the outer tube 54 is threaded fora jam-nut54', vwhich is screwed tightlyl against the 'rearface of the :bulkhead5. The forward end of the shaft 5l is secured by means of aslip-coupling to the propeller shaft 59, which extends forwardly withinthe shaft-tube 8 through the war` head, and upon the forward end ofwhich is mounted a propeller 65 secured by a nut 66, the rear end ofsaid propeller shaft 59 being journaled in a bearing 56, havingoppositely projecting shaft-arms 68 mountedat their outer endsina casing57 secured to the bulkhead 4 of the flask 3,' andarranged withinV thecasing 9 mounted upon the rear bulkhead 7 of the war-head. The forwardend of the tube 54 is'slidably mounted in a gas-tight packing gland 58inthe bulkhead 4, and the parts are so arranged as to per` mit expansivemovement of the bulkhead 44 under pressure of the motive gases thereincontained,

fin outer propeller shaft 6l surrounds the propeller shaft 59, and isjournaled at its` rear end within the casing 57 and at its forward endina bushing '62 in the outer end of the shaft-tube 8. A propeller 63 ismounted upon the end of the outer shaft 6l, The forward end of the innershaft 59 is provided with an enlarged bearing portion 64 which isjournaled in the outer shaft 6l and projects forwardly to receive thepropeller 65'.

The bow propellers 63 and -65 are designed f l site to that in which theshaft 59 is rotated, by means of a gear cluster mounted within thecasing 57, comprising a pair of bevel gears G7 mounted upon the oppositetransverse stud-shafts, and a pair of bevel gears 69 and 7() secured tothe shafts 59 and ,61, respectively, and meshing with the bevel gears67.

Similarly the propellers 45 and 46 at the rear of the torpedo are drivenin opposite directions. The outer propeller shaft 43is rotated by andreversely to the inner pro# peller shaft 39 by means of a gear clusterconsisting of a pair of bevel gears 47', which rotateabout thetransverse stud shafts 48, and mesh with the bevel gears 49 and 50secured, respectively, to the inner shaft 39 and to the outer shaft 43.

As has already been stated, the invention is not limited to theemployment of both bow, and stern propellers, but includes the use ofbow propellers only or stern propellers only. Y

In the present case, where both bow and stern propellers are used withthe gearing indicated, the rotors 20 and 2l are caused to revolve inopposite directions.

lIn order that the torpedo may cut its way through net-likeobstructions, and in order to protect the bow propellers from becomingfouled by such obstructions or by seaweed,.etc., the war-head 6 isprovided with a propeller guard, the outer edges of which may besharpened or serrated to form cutters.- This guard consists preferablyof pair of flat plates' perpendicularly arranged with respect to oneanother, mounted upon the nose of the war-head, and projecting forwardlytherefrom, said plates being cnty away as shown at 88 to provideclearance for the propellers. The exposed edges of the plates taperforward from the war-head and the propellers, and terminate in a point89. The edges of these plates are preferably provided with sharp cuttingteeth 90.

It will be understood that lthe torpedo is provided with suitablesteering mechanism, forms of which are well known and need not bedescribed, as well as with suitable mechanism for detonating the charge.

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 illustrate various alterna Y tive embodiments of theinvention.

Thus in Fig. 3 there is indicated the use I only of a rear driving-shaft328 for driving stern propellers, no bow propellers being used. In thiscase it willy be noted that the rotors 320 and 321 are mounted ona'single shaft 322 and revolve in the same direction. The bevel pinion375 of the reduction gear 373 Vmeshes withl the bevel pinion 37 8secured to the driving-shaft328, and the bevel pinion 376 of thereduction gear 374 drives the bevel pinion 377 also secured to thedriving-shaft 328. f

1 ,accese I, In Fig, 4 thereis shown the use of a single driving-shaft428vfor driving both stern and bow propellers. lIn this case also therotors 420 Qn the shaft 422, and 421 on the shaft 423, are ,driven inthe same direction,

the reduction'gearing being arranged and operating the same as in Fig.3.

In Fig 5 are shown -separate shafts, the forward shaft 551 driven by therotor` 520 for driving the rbow propellers, and the rear shaft 528driven by the rotor 521 for driving the stern propellers. In this casealso the rotors revolve in the samev direction.

On account of the several ways in which the shafting may be arranged Idesire to be I connected to said shaft, of motor mecha-.

nism having a plurality of rotors arranged symmetrically on oppositesides of the axial line of said shaft, and gearing arranged between therotors and connected to the rotors and to the shaft. c

2. In a torpedo, the combination with a longitudinal driving-shaft and apropeller connected to said shaft, of motor mechanism haring a pair oflrotors arranged in static balance on opposite sides of the axial line ofsaid shaft, and gearing arranged between the rotors and in staticbalance with respect to the axial line Vof said shaft and connected tothe rotors and to the shaft.

3. In a torpedo, the combination with a longitudinal driving-shaft and apropeller connected to said shaft, of motor mechanism having a pair ofrotors arranged on o posite sides of the axial line of said shaft, andgearing connected to the said rotors and the said shaft, the said caringbeing arranged on opposite sides ofg the axial line of said shaft anddisposed within the space between the said rotors.

4. In a torpedo, vmotor mechanism having plurality of turbine rotorsarranged symmetrically of the axis of the torpedo and revolving uponaxes angular to the torpedol axis, a propeller, and gearing locatedbetween the rotors and operatively connected to the propeller.

5. In a torpedo, an annular compartment, motor mechanism arranged 1nsaid compartment, a propeller, and gearing arranged 1n the spacesurrounded by said annular com- Y exhausted by the motor are conductedto the exterior of the torpedo, an exhaust conduit establishingcommunication,between the exhaust chamber of the motor and the passageVin the hollow shaft, and a concentric water-jacket surrounding the saidconduit and having inlet and outlet passages' opening through the shellof the torpedo, whereby the temperature of the gases is reduced beforethey enter the hollow shaft.

8. In a torpedo, a motor, an exhaust conduit for conducting exhaustgases from the vmotor to the exterior of the torpedo, a water-jacketsurrounding said conduit, and

inlet and outlet passages in the jacket so arranged that movement of thetorpedo through the water will cause water to be forced into the jacketthrough the inlet passage and discharged through the outlet pasc sage.

Ypelle-rs of each pair being arranged in tandem and rotatable about acommon axis, and

, means for rotating the propellers of each pair in opposite directions.

11. In a torpedo, a motor, forward and aft propeller shafts driven bysaid motor, forward and aft auxiliary propeller shafts concentric withthe said forward and aft propeller shafts respectively, and means forrotating the said forward and aft auxiliary shafts in a directionopposite to the direction of rotation of the forward and aft propellershafts respectively.

12. In a torpedo, a war-head, a tube eX- tending longitudinally throughthe warhead, a propeller mounted in front of the war-head, adriving-shaft for said propeller inclosed within said tube, and a motorarranged to the rear of the war-head and operatively connected to thedriving-shaft.

13. In a torpedo, a motive-fluid flask, a tubeV extending through themotive-Huid iiaskk and slidably supported by the wall thereof, a motor,and a driving-shaft connected to the motor andextending through saidtube.

14. In a torpedo, a shell comprising a plurality of separatecompartments adapted to be joined to form a torpedo shell, a sectionalshaft extending through adjoining Vcompartments and divided adjacent theplane of joinder of the compartments, and a coupling for theshaft-sections disposed within the space between the said ments.

15. The combination with a torpedo having a propeller disposed at thebow of the shell, of a guard for the propeller projecting forwardlythereof.

16. A torpedo comprising a shell, a propeller disposed at the bow of theshell, and a guard for the propeller comprising a plurality offorwardly-projecting wedgeshaped plates secured to the bow of thetorpedo in angular relation t'o one another, and provided with openingsvto permit of the rotation of the propeller.

17. A torpedo comprising a shell, a pro-y comp art-` cured to the bow ofthe torpedo, the said plate being cut away `to provide clearance for thepropeller, and having outer cutting edges extending beyond and forwardof the propeller.V Y K In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

' HAROLD W. SHONNARD. `Vitnesses:

KATE E. GENNING, LUoIAN A. FAGAN.

